Browsing by Author "Lovett, Brian"
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Item Native entomopathogenic Metarhizium spp. from Burkina Faso and their virulence against the malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii and non-target insects(Springer Nature, 2018-03-27) Bilgo, Etienne; Lovett, Brian; St. Leger, Raymond J.; Sanon, Antoine; Dabiré, Roch K.; Diabaté, AbdoulayeGenetically enhanced Metarhizium pingshaense are being developed for malaria vector control in Burkina Faso. However, not much is known about the local prevalence and pathogenicity of this fungus, so we prospected mosquitoes and plant roots (a common habitat for Metarhizium spp.) for entomopathogenic fungi. Our investigations showed that Metarhizium spp. represented between 29–74% of fungi isolated from plant root rhizospheres in diverse collection sites. At low spore dosages (1 × 106 conidia/ml), two mosquito-derived M. pingshaense isolates (Met_S26 and Met_S10) showed greater virulence against Anopheles coluzzii (LT80 of ~7 days) than isolates tested in previous studies (LT80 of ~10 days). In addition, the local isolates did not cause disease in non-target insects (honeybees and cockroaches). Our work provides promising findings for isolating local Metarhizium strains for application in mosquito biological control and for future transgenic biocontrol strategies in Burkina Faso.Item Unraveling Metarhizium interactions with insects, plants and microbes(2019) Lovett, Brian; St. Leger, Raymond J; Entomology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Metarhizium fungi have dual lifestyles as insect pathogens and as rhizospheric plant symbionts. Since these fungi can vary widely in their virulence and host-specificity, they provide a powerful model for host-pathogen interactions. Today, it is clear the greatest potential of these fungi lies in their application as transgenic biotechnologies. Biotechnologies are rightly subjected to increased scrutiny, and this dissertation seeks to assess the risks and benefits of applying transgenic Metarhizium fungi using bioinformatics. After sequencing the early-diverged generalist Metarhizium frigidum, comparative genomics has upended our understanding of the trajectory of Metarhizium evolution. Using a functional gene microarray, I assessed the impacts these fungi have on the soil microbial community, establishing a protocol for evaluating possible risks of applying transgenic entomopathogenic fungi. To inform the evaluation and development of next-generation transgenic Metarhizium strains in the future, I evaluated the specific mosquito immune response to Metarhizium pingshaense during early infection with and without Plasmodium falciparum (the human malaria parasite) using transcriptomics. A strain of this fungus engineered to express a potent arthropod-derived, insect-specific neurotoxin in mosquito hemolymph, was also evaluated for mosquito control efficacy in semi-field trials in West Africa. Together, this body of work offers a comprehensive view of the evolution of this fungal genus and how transgenic fungi interact with insects, plants and microbes. The results herein comprise a framework for evaluating the risks and efficacy of transgenic fungi.